Ousmane was categorical: “I would support capital punishment for a relative who dared to leave Islam.” Ousmane is a committed member of Wahhabi Islam, a puritan movement that advocates a return to the original teachings of Islam found in the Quran and Hadith. Wahhabis stress literal belief in the Quran and Hadith, and this was his firm belief about deserters until I pointed him to a verse in the Quran he had never seen before. It was rewarding to see his reaction.

Dramane, a good friend of mine, introduced me to Ousmane in October 2009. Ousmane is a well-known town announcer and drama actor, and Dramane suggested he might be an asset to the communication strategy of the religious-liberty team I am forming. So I began meeting together with Dramane, Ousmane, Adamou, my main language helper, and Ibrahim, a senior high-school student who is interested in practicing English. My first meeting with the four was very casual as we got acquainted. After several meetings, I introduced the concept of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Article 18: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” We also discussed the three main community objectives of the religious-liberty team: 1) Find out if people know about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2) discuss Article 18 with them, and 3) discuss the concepts of religious liberty in Islam and in the Quran with them.

Of the four men, only Dramane, an economics teacher, had heard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So, in our discussion, I asked Ousmane to read Surah 10:99 of the Quran. As he read aloud, he could hardly believe the words: “If it had been thy Lord’s will, they would all have believed—all who are on earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe?” Ousmane was humble enough to admit the verse was new to him, and from that point his conviction about enforcing observance must change.

Ousmane’s attitude toward me changed as well. He confessed he had been among those who had tried to stir up people against me. He even confessed he joined my group to better fight against it, but now he would give it his full support.

Ousmane and the three other team members have so far surveyed 40 imams about religious liberty, and we plan to survey 60 more. He especially enjoys pointing out Surah 10:99 to them and watching the light turn on in their minds as it did in his.

I will keep you updated on what we discover from the survey and how its witness affects the religious leaders in our community. Thanks for your prayers and faithful commitment to reach out to the Dendi people.

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